Priorities: Yours, Mine, and the President's

Yesterday the team at National Priorities Project unveiled President Obama’s new budget on our all-new website. I had an interesting discovery while combing through those budget numbers. I found that the president’s spending priorities match pretty closely with the things Americans say they want. Of course the budget is complicated. But let’s say for a moment that it’s as simple as a public opinion polling question.

The Pew Research Center found that 62 percent of Americans want the president to spend more on education, despite concern over deficits. That was the strongest support for increasing any type of spending. And in a year of cuts, the president’s budget accomplishes it, increasing education spending in his discretionary budget by 2 percent relative to fiscal 2012. It’s one of the few items slated for an increase. Still, education only comprises around 2 percent of all federal spending, as it has for decades—but for now at least it’s moving in the direction most Americans want.

Two of the most costly federal programs are overwhelmingly popular. North of 60 percent of Americans want to protect Social Security and Medicare from any cuts, according to a Gallup poll. Together those programs comprise 37 percent of the president’s new budget. That means the vast majority of Americans at minimum are on board with more than a third of the president’s spending plan, even if they don’t realize it.